Ex-boyfriend sentenced for haircut assault

By Michelle Casady :
June 25, 2014
: Updated: June 25, 2014 11:33pm

SAN ANTONIO — A man who was so angry with his ex-girlfriend for talking to other men that he cut off her hair and threatened to kill her was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.

Rick Matthew Estrada, 25, initially was charged in August 2011 with first-degree felony assault, but he signed an agreement in which he pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of unlawful restraint and had his possible punishment capped at five years.

According to court records, Estrada called the girl saying he ran out of gas and needed a ride. Once they got to his apartment, he asked her to come inside to talk. When she refused, he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder, threw her on the bed and told her he was angry she was talking to other men.

He began snipping her hair, “telling her that he would make her ugly so that no one would want her,” before eventually putting the shears to her throat and threatening to cut her carotid artery, authorities said. She was able to eventually run outside and flagged down a passing car for help, records state.

Estrada applied for probation and told the judge prior to sentencing that he deserved it because of his otherwise clean record. He wants to be a criminal defense attorney someday, he said.